ACor58

I am not so sure. Lets take the Giants, for example, who are in need of a cornerback and were rumored to be in the market for Nate if we hadn't franchised him. While it is true that the longer he stays out of camp his chances of being traded / signed by another team diminish, I do not think they would hold that against him. If they feel that he is worth a $15MM signing bonus and a $6M per year contract they won't think he is worth less for holding out. So lets look at this. The Giants give you the 25th pick in the draft for Nate. To you refuse it, take it, or ask for more?

I am with you on that one. He has so much talent but at times I wonder how he can make so many mistakes. I'd like to see him work out a long term deal.

ESPN radio had reported that Gene Upshaw had advised agents to not have his clients not to sign any deals until as close to March 2nd as possible, hoping to provide some leverage in the negotiating process. Reggie Wayne was the onlymajor UFA deal that I recall hearing about.

More about weighing their options. What exactly are the options? A.) Playing for the tag B.) Signing a long term deal Since they haven't reached a long term agreement and Nate has stated that he wants to be the highest paid cornerback in the league, it is option: C.) Holding out for a long term deal and / or requesting a trade In the previous posts no one had mentioned the fact that Clements might hold out Sure a lot of this is posturing by the agent but the weighing our options was interesting and I am assuming that option is a possibility.

How about "B*tch Slap it on!" since most guys just b*tch when they are tagged.

I believe it is the same as if they had cut him and take a hit on the cap for that season.

I hear what you are saying eball. I didn't say that he was going to sit out this season. I can see him holding out, possibly through training camp, until he gets his deal or if the Bills decide that they have had enough they may try to sign and trade him. I know that we can all sit here and say that $5.89MM is plenty and he should be willing to take it. But think about it, he has already said that he wants to be paid to be the highest cornerback in the league. Judging from what we know about Nate and his attitude already, he is not above holding out and demanding to be traded to a different team if he doesn't get what he wants.

Of course I would but judging from the statements that Nate had made I can't imagine that he were very happy right now. If Nate doesn't get the deal that he wants I can see him trying to force the Bills into a sign and trade situation. At 26 he is still young but it is also a young mans position. Once corners get in the 30 range their value starts to decline. He might be looking at this as his one and only shot to cash in and have a huge payday. If he were to hold out he could try and force the Bills into a sign and trade type scenario. I just don't see him playing for that number this year.

Clements' agent, Todd France, declined comment except to tell The Associated Press that he and his client will weigh their options. Adding he was not surprised by the Bills' decision, France said he might meet with Bills management while attending the NFL Combine in Indianapolis this week. Remember, Nate still has to sign and accept the offer. The Franchise tag just bought the Bills some more time. My guess is that one or two things happen: A.) Nate signs a long term deal. B.) Nate threatens to hold out until he gets a long term deal. The $5.89MM is a relatively low number for someone who thinks that he is the best player in the league at his position. There is no way that he plays under the franchise tag this year and I can't really blame him. If he were to get hurt this year he would be totally screwed and would never be able to cash in. There is no gaurantee that he will be a Bill this season.

Look beyond the numbers. Knowing the way most deals are structured, it is probably back loaded with higher base salaries in the later years. The signing bonus was $13.5 which can be spread out over 4 years at a number of around 3.38MM. The remaining number on the contract probably consists of salary and roster bonuses. Even if his salary is $1MM this year and escalates every year after his cap number is fairly manageable for the first few years of the deal.

oops sorry. Even smart guys make mistkes sometimes.

That was actually the Transition tag.

Vincent won't be cut... Coy Wire is not an acceptable replacement.

You can't argue against that Nate had a down year last year but he is still one of the best playmaking corners in the league. If we did not tag him a number of teams would have offered him a lot of money. At a little more than $5MM this season Nate is a steal.

Sounds like a winner to me.

Out of curiosity, what would you have changed it to if Nate were to have left Buffalo? Bannan97 or Gandy69 has a nice ring to it.

Probably not as likely. Both of their cap numbers a fairly reasonable and I if Marv follows through with his plan to upgrade both OL and DL through the draft and FA I think that we will keep them. While both might have lost a step I don't think we could do much better than them in the coming year.

If Millen doesn't he is an idiot. Wait, Millen is an idiot. If he doesn't than he is a bigger idiot.

I was just talking about that with on of my buddies at lunch, especially since the Sabres are not only playing well, but are fun to watch.

I would be pretty dissapointed. You could put anyone behind that offensive line and they would struggle if not fail. I like Brees a lot but it would king of like building a shed in your yard before you built a house.

Anyone here specialize in real estate or property law?

Some of the owners do not undertsand the benefits of revenue sharing, they are too freaking greedy. They don't realize that by sharing revenue with other teams and evening the competitive landscape it has made the NFL what it is today, In doing so it is much more attractive to the television networks, which pay more money for the rights, which eventually puts more money in their pockets.

You are dead on when it comes to revenue sharing. Guys like Jones and Snyder don't realize how goood that they have it. Greed is certainly at the hearts of most of these owners souls and at the end of the day is what drives them. I also agree that the possibility of a work stoppage is very real. The one thing that may prevent that is recent history. The work stoppage in baseball was very damaging and it took two juicers chasing after the HR record to bring it back. The NBA still hasn't recovered from the 98-99 lockout. The NHL was a total mess and the long term effects are yet to be seen. Hopefully all parties do not want to make the same mistakes of the other major sports leagues and get a deal done.

I think all parties involved (except for maybe the Jerry Jones' and Dan Snyders of the world) realize that the NFL system, while maybe needing to be tweaked, muct remain unchanged for the NFL to continue being the dominant spectator and television sport that it is today. I do not think that Tagliabue or Upshaw (Players Union President) want their legacy to be known as the ones that destroyed the NFL. Both sides will come to the table and reach an agreement before 2007. There is too much money (especially from the networks) riding on it.

If we cut him doesn't he have to clear waivers? That means that another team could grab him up if they wanted to. Probably don't need to cut him since most of his signing bonus has been accounted for. We can probably reduce his base without having to pay him a significant amount of gauranteed money.